Issues Concerning Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, Bisexual and other Sexual Minorities Africa
We started off as GayUganda...., but time changes all....

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Uh, Back

Just got a reminder, that I should blog.

Hey, was off on holiday. It was fantastic. No stress (only a little!), and, beautiful place, beautiful vistas, beautiful people. A learning experience, since I did have to mix pleasure and work.

And, the FREEDOM!

You know I live in Uganda, right? And that Uganda is homophobic, yes?

Now, in Uganda, for a gay man, a gay couple, one has to constantly look over one's shoulders. Yes, first look to the right, then to the left, and then you do what can potentially out you. Like carrying my book of gay love poetry...!

But, I was in a land where I didnt have to do that.

I know, for the first few days, I did so do it. But, the tension wears off, and, I suddenly know that I am free. That I can kiss who I will, that I can say what I think, that I can literally be myself. The tension, the ever present tension in Uganda? It is a cloud that I no longer see, notice. That is, until I go to a place where I have no need to hide any longer.

Someone, a reader living in Uganda wrote to me, essentially asking the question, why do I fight? Living and working and being in Uganda, one can become very confortable hiding. Very. And, so confortable that people like gug who seem to constantly want the attention and getting into the sights of Ssempa and Buturo's guns, we do stir a lot of disconfort. We upset our orderly worlds.

I feel for you, brother.

Because, I felt exactly the same, a few years ago.

Till I realised that the illusion of confort that was all around me was just an illusion. That peace of mind comes at a great price. And, the more I realise that I can stop paying that price, the more I realise that I was being short charged.

Freedom is priceless. That is why people die for it.

I fight, we fight, because we have had a feel, a taste of what freedom can be. That is why we go ahead and provoke and dare to stand in the sights of people like Minister of Ethics and Integrity in Uganda. Because we want to be free of the self imposed restrictions, the invisible prisons we build round us... just because we are different!

Brother, you may not agree with me at the moment, but, I do hope that you do soon!

This is a war. And, to fight it, I do need you...!

What has been happening in Uganda?

Usually, there is something happening. On the gay frontlines. Uganda is like that!

The rolling pebble? It was temporarily stopped from publishing, because 3 people outed as gay sued it in the country's courts. The case is ongoing. At the last hearing, the judge ?forgot to extend the ban on the paper publishing more photos.

And, do you know their reaction? The editors? They say they are going to take advantage of the couple of weeks and publish more photos. As soon as possible! Deities above, what is the motivation of these guys? Am I the one noticing more than just the economics of having our fabulous selves on the paper's front page?

A Ugandan newspaper that "outs" people it says are gay and has called for them to be hanged said on Tuesday it would use a two-week window before a court verdict on its activities to continue with its campaign.

Three gay activists -- two women and one man -- who were featured in the publication secured an interim injunction on November 1 stopping the newspaper from publishing such photos on privacy grounds.

The paper, "Rolling Stone," has published some images under the headline "Hang them."

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"The interim order was first passed on November 1st and extended until November 26th while we prepared our case," Giles Muhame, the 22-year-old editor of the newspaper, told Reuters.

"The judge then said on the 26th that he would pass his final verdict on December 13th, which means it expired."

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Rolling Stone has so far published 29 photographs with names and, in some cases, addresses and says it intends to work through a list of 100 people.

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Muhame said he would now try to feature as many people as possible whom his newspaper considers gay in two issues before the verdict is passed.

"I hope basic justice will be done," he told Reuters. "Some people are even calling for public hanging and some others even want to see homosexuals buried alive."

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When I talked to this guy on BBC, he said that he doesnt want me hanged.... but, he is featuring my photo, my name, my address in his paper, when he knows that some people do want me 'buried alive'. Very, very Christian, isnt he? Oh, I am told he worships in Pastor Martin 'eat da poo poo' Ssempa's Makerere Community Church. Seeds have grown into plants and are bearing fruit.

How fitting!

Now, I have bored myself. And dampened my enthusiasm. I will blog more later...!